Cards on the Table
by thawrecka
Summary: An early heist. Written for the 2017 Yuletide challenge.


Originally written for Yuletide 2017.

The wet streets gleamed like a jewel and Jesper was drunk on the night.

It seemed only hours before that he'd faced the world with the sickly rush of nerves and the hard-edged feeling of determination that came before a job. He'd only had to be a distraction, a loud yelling joker in the night. First, he'd slid his fingers over all his concealed guns, the solid presence of each like a safety blanket, keeping him calm so he wouldn't shake himself out of his skin. Then he'd moved into place so he could cause maximum chaos with minimum effort. He'd thrown his arms wide and bellowed out loud, drawing the eye and ear of almost everyone in the room. _Listen to me, all of you_ , he thought. _Listen to yourself and not the spin of the big six wheel nearby, the tap tap tap of the roulette table as the ball jumped its obstacle course until it found a home to rest._ Men and women in their finery looked at him and laughed at the ridiculous young man in their midst. If he stayed loud enough to keep their attention there was a chance he'd stay loud enough to distract himself. He knew he wasn't really needed on this job.

This was a test.

There's something dark in Kaz, volatile and unstable, always testing the edges of people's weaknesses, their vulnerabilities, their ability to stay loyal. Jesper sees Kaz testing him the way he tests everyone and isn't sure he hates it or thrives on it. Knows only that he wants to win, win him over. It's just that first he has to win over himself and his weakness.

It's that dark thing in Kaz that calls to Jesper. That thing that beats inside him like a beating of broken wings. There's something dark in Jesper, too. Something he wants Kaz to let out. He'd let Kaz unravel him as long as Kaz unravelled a bit of himself.

But Kaz won't let anyone get that close, so Jesper laughed it up for his audience, let himself be loud and ridiculous, while Inej and Kaz did their part of the job. Kept it up until he was sure they'd left the room. Kept it going long enough that he almost forgot why he was there, almost forgot he had to leave, and the sounds of the gamblers around him crept in. The shuffle of cards became louder than any sound in existence.

The tip tap of fingers on tables and the regular slap of money changing hands became so loud in his ears he almost couldn't hear his own breath. So he breathed even louder until he reminded himself what he was trying to do, and ran out onto the street. That night he passed the test. Yesterday, if tested, he might have failed; tomorrow, if tested, he might collapse under the weight of his own desire to play. This night, as the street lights pulsed like stars, he was a lucky man, and he ran until he found Kaz and Inej waiting for him. This night he won.

#

Inej had the easy part. All she'd had to do was slip silently behind someone and relieve him of the contents of his pockets. She could make herself small, invisible, quiet; it was almost as easy as blinking, now.

What wasn't yet easy was thinking of herself as part of a team. Jesper was working on breaking down her barriers to friendship in that loud, blundering way he had. Extremely obvious, hard to miss, easy to underestimate. There was something genuine and hopeful under Jesper's loud exterior that Inej was learning to enjoy.

Kaz, though, she wasn't sure she would ever get used to. The way the movement of his shoulders made her breath catch. The way the leather of his gloves made every movement of his hands a tactical strike. Each smirk that livened up his face was a dart she had to swerve to avoid and every sneer of disgust that turned his eyes down only drew her deeper into his mystery.

She'd dropped the trinket into his hand not long after she'd picked it from its hiding place and then they'd slid out into the night, hid in a dark alley waiting for Jesper to be done with his clowning and join them. They'd shared the silence, only broken open by occasional whispered words breathed out like fog, and even in the coldness of the night the memory of the roughness of his voice was lighting a fire in her chest. They hadn't touched. Only, standing side by side, each respecting the other's personal territory, she found she almost wanted to reach out and break the edges of his bubble, wanted him to reach back to her. For the first time in a long time she'd wished a man would touch her, skin to skin, and focused on her breath until the feeling went away.

Now he was walking far ahead of them, that angry stride, his cane threatening to become a weapon at any point.

Jesper, next to her, nearly bumped her, giddy, and she focused on him instead. Spoke quietly for only his ears and let him know she didn't mind if he touched her, fabric to fabric, as long as he was careful and let her see it coming.

#

Of course Kaz had the important part to play. He was the one who'd slipped into an office, slipped into the safe, and slipped out with the plans. He'd tucked them tight under his suit, held so secure nobody could see he was holding them. And then he'd waited. Waited to see if Inej and Jesper would reward his faith.

He was walking far ahead of them, now, back to Per Haskell and all his little crows. He could see the other two far behind him, and let himself look at who they really were.

Jesper who touched everyone. Inej, who let herself look untouchable, but had a small group of people she'd let have contact with her skin. Kaz didn't want to be touched at all. So he watched them touch each other, in ways he couldn't bear for himself. Jesper's arm slung over Inej's shoulder, a brief spark of contact while Jesper leaned down to whisper something in Inej's ear, before laughing at himself and moving away. Inej's face brightened and her smile was like bells. She ran up fast, soft feet quiet, to catch up with Kaz, and even Jesper quickened his pace and said, "Wait for me."

They may have figured out half of his little game but as always, the rest of the test was for himself. He wasn't sure yet if he was going to succeed.


End file.
